Missions Updates

Friend,

STC is moving full speed ahead here in Uganda! Things have settled since the election, the internet is (mostly) back, and so are our Shepherds Training College (STC) pastors!

I’m so excited for this year ahead, because at the end of it will be another milestone: We will have our first bachelor’s degree awarding graduation. And we will be completing our most recent STC building project, namely our new library/ student center/ classroom. We could not be more excited. The following newsletter will provide an update concerning STC. I hope you will praise the Lord with us as you see what He is doing among us.

WHAT IS STC?

STC stands for Shepherds Training College. It is a rigorous accredited, residential pastor training program that we created to help leaders be truly equipped for the weighty task of shepherding their churches.

We believe that great churches are only possible with well equipped great leaders! And  STC ‘s mission is to produce such leaders. Here is our newest video expressing our vision:

What makes STC unique is not only our conservative reformed, dispensational theology, but also our methodology. STC is focused on training premier leaders. Our students come primarily from the Baptist fellowship into our 1 year residential certificate program, where they are trained in the foundations of the gospel and Christian living. We vet these men and take the most educationally capable and morally fit men and invite them into our 3 year residential degree program. This program is a robust training in biblical studies, expository preaching, biblical counseling, theology and a pastoral ministry. 

For effective discipleship purposes we require married pastors to come with their families, so the whole family can be equipped to reach their communities. Our aim is to see the pastor following the King, his family following the King, so when they leave SOS they can go establish churches and help their communities to follow the King. Our slogan is: A serious training for a series calling. And everything we are doing is communicating that commitment!

STC IS IN SESSION

On February 2, our degree programs commenced. On February 9, our certificate  program started. Now, 160 pastors from all over Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Tanzania stepped onto the SOS campus to continue or start their formation journey at Shepherds Training College. We are thrilled and praising God for them!

See the start of their semester in this short video:

This is our 8th year of operations. And the journey has been sweet and more productive than we could have imagined. We could not be more thankful to God for what He is doing.

SPONSOR A PASTOR!

At Shepherds Training College, we have sought to provide the ultimate pastoral training program. We seek to offer the elite “seal team” of pastoral training. For more information visit STC’s Website. https://www.stc.ac.ug/

We really believe we have put together one of the most comprehensive and robust accredited training institutions in East Africa. And to date the impact is evident. 

Click here to hear the impact of STC from some of our pastors!

However, to an impoverished village pastor, the commitment is massive. The responsibility involves sustaining and educating a pastor and his entire family, ensuring they return home prepared and equipped for a lifetime of fruitful ministry. 

And as we roll into the start of a new school year this burden weighs heavy upon me. Due to its rapid growth of our institution, funding its operations is a legitimate challenge. To meet this challenge we have put together a Sponsor a Pastor opportunity. So I want to ask for your help. Would you be willing to help STC by sponsoring a pastor?

This sponsorship is a three-year commitment and costs $250 a month. It cares for all of the pastor’s needs while studying at STC: Their monthly stipend, school supplies, children’s education, computer, Logos package, medical bills, and resettlement gift. 

This investment radically impacts not just the pastor, but his family, and the whole community in which he will be serving. Collectively, we can see the whole of Uganda and beyond enlightened by the truth of Jesus Christ!

Your help is invaluable to SOS. Together, by God’s grace, we can be a part of a radical movement within God’s Church. Would you consider joining our team?

I recognize that sponsoring a pastor might not be feasible for everyone, so please know that gifts of any amount would be so helpful.

PRAYER REQUESTS

1. Pray that pastors will experience the gospel through our certificate in a powerful and real way that will impact their lives and ministry.
2. Pray that God will use His Word to awaken the hearts of the STC pastors to their own sin and failings that they might understand the depth of God’s incomprehensible love. 
3. Pray that God will continue to give us wisdom to ensure that we are effective in training our men for ministry. 
4. Pray that God will bring wisdom and clarity on how SOS can come alongside its graduates to see their gifts and abilities maximize when they return to their home areas. 
5. Pray that God might give us wisdom to know which students we should invest in to raise them to be STC professors.
6. Pray that the Lord will help us get full sponsorship of our pastors, so that we can meet the necessary cost of running STC. 

For the King and His Kingdom,

Shannon Hurley

Executive Director & Founder